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Spring, 2003
Volume 8, No. 1 All good things must end—even, or maybe especially, a good mystery novel. But what makes for a satisfying ending? Does the killer have to be caught? All the loose ends wrapped up? The reader's every question answered? Someone at a panel we were on early this spring asked us what we look for in our own endings. We thought it was such a good question we'd share our thoughts here as well.
Lee Harris I am a connoisseur of endings. Whenever I see the last scene of The Way We Were or read the last page of Lawrence Block's Eight Million Ways to Die, I wish I could do that myself. In my mysteries I try to wrap up almost everything, leaving perhaps one unknown: a character disappears or a titillating question remains unanswered. Then I finish with something personal about the character, her thoughts, her feelings, how she relates to the case she has just solved, what it means to her. The first line of The Good Friday Murder was: "I still get up at five in the morning." As I wrote it, I knew I would finish the book with the same sentence. It drew everything together, closed the circle, gave a sense of peace, at least to me. In my new book, Murder in Hell's Kitchen, the first of a new series featuring NYPD Detective Jane Bauer, I finish with events that happen so far in the future, about half a year later, that several books may intervene before those events actually occur! Still, they tie up the case and then, in the last sentence, I tie up something important in Jane's life. I assume that gives her a sense of peace too. Lee Harris's new book, Murder in Hell's Kitchen, has just been published. Christine Bennett will be back next year. So will Jane Bauer. Lee can be reached at MysMurder@aol.com.
Lora Roberts Not to be too Zen-like, but it's my contention that the end of the book should reflect the beginning. In a mystery, we foment strife and discord in order to show the characters fully, with their masks stripped away and their secrets finally acknowledged. For them, there's no going back to the front of the book. A writer wants to change the reader as well, if only to provide a couple of hours of escape from real life. To make that escape satisfactory, the story questions brought up in the course of the book, such as motive and identity of the perpetrator, have to be answered; for total satisfaction, I think the perp has to be suitably punished, whether through the criminal justice system or by the greater vagaries of Fate. And the reader should always have something positive to take away. What we end up with is less a circle than a spiral, resulting in a deeper, richer version of the same place. The fictional world is restored to order. The characters have grown and changed, ready to resume their lives in the face of that change. The reader has been transported, but is still in the chair in the living room (or propped up in bed, or landing at the airport without worrying about the flight). Ending doesn't just wrap up the mystery. It establishes the characters in a new starting place. Full spiral. Lora's latest Bridget Montrose mystery, Another Fine Mess, is now in bookstores. Look for The Affair of the Incognito Tenant next spring. You can e-mail Lora at myslora@pacbell.net.
Valerie Wolzien I do two things in all of my novels: I tell a story about a continuing group of characters and I solve a murder. I write very traditional mysteries and in each book the murderer is caught and justice is done. I always answer the big three questions... Who did it? How did he or she do it? Why was the murder committed?—before the book ends. My series characters move from book to book. And their lives, like all our lives, change over time, so I leave personal questions unanswered and situations unresolved in each book, knowing I can deal with them as the series continues. My current Josie Pigeon mystery, A Fashionable Murder, is the sixth book in that series. Since book one, Josie and Sam Richardson have been dating. As their relationship deepened, the question of a possible marriage has been raised. Sam moved to the island where Josie lives years ago, but he kept a condominium in New York City. This book finds Josie helping Sam clean up his condo before putting it on the market. Does this indicate that their relationship is about to change? It's a question Josie wonders about as she tromps through one of the biggest snow storms the city has experienced trying to discover the killer of Sam's ex-lover. And it's a question I'm not going to answer here. I'm hoping readers of our newsletter will pick up the book and find out for themselves. Valerie's latest, A Fashionable Murder, was published in May of this year. Valerie can be reached at valerie@wolzien.com.
Jonnie Jacobs Mysteries are traditionally stories where justice is served, order restored, and all the loose ends neatly tied up. For most readers, myself included, this is one of the attractions of the genre. Real life is rarely so tidy. But I tend to see shades of gray more easily than black and white, and I am intrigued by ambiguity. My books reflect that side of me, as well. While I want to satisfy readers' quest for justice, I strive for endings that also touch them on a personal and emotional level, and leave them with issues to ponder. The main crime questions are always answered. By the end, we know who the killer is, what his or her motivation was, and the killer has been caught. But there are often open questions about justice, about the fallout from crime and its impact on the characters. Friends and family of the victim are traumatized, of course. But ripples spread farther. How has solving the crime affected the detective? The people close to the killer? Suppose the killer has a young child, for instance. Or is a young child. These are issues for which there is often no orderly resolution. Nor are the loose ends peripheral to the crime always tied up neatly. A series book, while complete in itself, is also a chapter in the ongoing saga of the character's life and development. Relationships evolve, people move, change jobs, get sick, have setbacks. I try to leave some of these questions open. I want you to pick up the next book, after all! The paperback of Cold Justice will be out in August, and the new release, Intent to Harm, in September. You can reach Jonnie at jonnie@jonniejacobs.com.
Lee Harris ~ Jonnie Jacobs ~ Lora Roberts ~ Valerie Wolzien ©2005-06 by Lee Harris, Jonnie Jacobs, Lora Roberts and Valerie Wolzien. |
